Waukesha, city, seat of Waukesha County, southeastern Wisconsin, on the Fox River, in a dairy-farming region; settled 1834, incorporated as a city 1896. Electrical and electronic equipment, engines, medical supplies, metal castings, and cheese and other food products are produced. Carroll College (1846) and a junior college are here. An abolitionist center before the American Civil War, the community grew after the arrival of the railroad from Milwaukee in 1851. From 1868 to about 1915 it had a thriving health-resort business based on its mineral springs. The city's name is derived from a Potawatomi term meaning “by the Little Fox.” Population 50,365 (1980); 56,958 (1990); 64,825 (2000).
